Shoe-drying last.



W. J. BURKE. SHOE DRYING LAST.

APPLICATION TILED SEPT. 20, 1909.

1,057,801 Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

UNITED STA FFICE.

WILLIAM J. BURKE. OF PORTSMOUTH. OHIO.

SHOE-DRYING LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

reteilie aii' ie. 1 ,191 3.

Application filed September 20, 1909. serial No. 518,576. i

dent of Portsmouth, in the State of Ohio,-

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Drying Lasts, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

In the manufacture of box toes for boots and shoes, present methods ordinarily require three or four days to dry and thoroughly unite the several plies constituting the stiff toe piece, the usual method being to apply a suitable material such as a solution of gums, to the several thicknesses or plies which. are to form the toe, then lasting the same and, when the plies have been well pulled down around the wood of the last, they are allowed to remain upon the last for about twenty-four hours until the shape or contour of the toe is imparted thereto; thereafter the last is removed and the partially formed shoe is again permitted to dry for a couple of days or so. For unless the drying is thoroughly effected at this stage, the subsequent stitching and other machine operations will contract the toe and distort it. Such a method, besides consuming a considerable amount of time, involves the use of a large number of lasts, and requires a considerable floor space.

One of the objects of the present invention is to reduce the time which has heretofore been found necessary in drying and setting box toes and thereby to obviate the other disadvantages in the manufacture of boots and shoes which resulted as a natural consequence from the old methods.

Broadly considered, the present invention relates to a last for drying the boot or shoe, and particularly the toe thereof, from within out and preferably said last is provided with electric heating means embedded therein. The use of a last containing such means which is readily attachable to and detachable from an electric main, offers a particularly practical and convenient method of constructing'boxtoes and one which does not involve any change in the other operations or machinery required in the manufacture of boots and shoes as the same is practised today.

Referring now. to the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a. lastin which the improvements have been embodied, the. irregular plane of section being indicated by the line l1 in Fig. 2. In this figure the several plies forming the toe of a shoe are illustrated imposition upon the last, and, Fig. 2 1s a new of the same in vertical section, the electrical attaching.

means being also shown.

The last a is shown in the drawings in-a conventional form, the rear portion of the last being omitted for convenience in illus-'.

trating. In the present case, an electric heater consisting of a suitable coil of fine wire I), cylindrical in form, is embedded within the toe of the last in any suitable manner. Surrounding the end of the heater 6 is ametallic piece 0, preferably in the form of a disk, which has the efiect of uniformly distributing the heat ,to all parts of .the toe; and for the purpose of conducting the heat from the interior outwardly, openings d are, provided" in the'last and are arranged. to radiate substantially from the disk 0 to the exterior of the toe.

The heater 6 may be connected in any suitable manner with an electric main, but it is preferable to provide detachable connections between the heater and the main in order that the device may be the more conveniently handled. For this purpose the heater 6 is connected with a jack e. located in the top of the last, by means of Wires f lying in a recess g which is bored in the last and connects the jackwith the space in which the heater lies. The electric main, on the other hand, is provided with a pluralityof short connectors h having plugs 2' adapted to be inserted in the jacks. In this way, as will be obvious, the heater 6 may be readily connected with and disconnected from the main without interfering at all with the normal use of the last. In fadt, lasts provided with. electric heaters as hereinbefore described, may be .used in the same way as ordinary lasts. Where, however, they are used. as a qu ck means of drying the box toes, in accordance with the present invention, the materials of the toe are applied in the ordinary manner and when the shoe is advanced far enough for the drying process to he proceeded with, it is placed in a suitable rack or other receptacle where electrical attachment can be made with the heater. In {ICCOI'dfiiLB with the improvements, the toes can be thoroughly dried and the -materials thereof united within half an hour, which obviously tin'g' t-he-leather first'in shape and leaving the; enameled leather vtips (where such leather tips are employed) 150F550 that they may be stretched to place conveniently and 'without "cracking. w

the-toes tends to produce a water-proof box this 15th day of September, A. D., 1909.

gain,-' the heating of toe,- and enables the use of materials in forming the toe which it would otherwise be impossible tel-employ -.The improvements herein set forth are not limited to the precise construction and ar ange mentsjshown and described, as they spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as myinvention:v I

A last for boots and'shoes having a heater 20 supported in the toe, a metallic disk around the beaten-andopenings inthe last radiating from the disk.

This specification signed and witnessed p WILLIAM J; BURKE.

Signed in the presence of-- MARGARET BALL,

OSCAR IV...NEWMAN. 

